After completing a “really grim” third round of chemotherapy, Mel Homer is getting ready to go back in for a fourth. 

The host of The House of Wellness on the Breeze and Magic Days - now Breeze Classic -  was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia back in July, which was discovered during some routine blood tests. 

“It was actually in the production meeting for The House of Wellness that had happened on a Tuesday afternoon,” she shared. 

The blood tests came back “abnormal”, and Mel was told she needed to come in and get retested. 

“I went straight to the hospital, and then I didn’t leave the hospital for five weeks, I didn’t even get to go home.”

Now onto her fourth round of chemo, Mel said the third was a “shorter stint, but very, very strong”. 

“[It] made all my hair break off again, so it really knocked me around,” she said. 

“I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t talk, I needed help to get from the bed to the sofa.”

“I was really sick the whole time; it was awful.”

“Now I’m getting ready to go and do that again, so this is the week where I feel really good because all my blood count is coming back up and everything’s sort of looking good,” she added.

Mel explained that she’d been in remission since round one, so her cancer is currently at a low level.

“They just kept nuking it… I kind of imagine it like little Star Wars soldiers going into my bloodstream, getting all the bad stuff out.” 

“This is my last chemo round because after this, it pretty much stops working.”

Mel says the “ideal outcome” now is that she has a stem cell transplant. 

However, along with there being a long waiting list for them in New Zealand, they’re also struggling to find someone who is a match. 

“I’m a bit unique,” she joked. 

“If I don’t have a stem cell transplant, we hope we can manage it with chemo medication.”

Mel has also required special blood and platelet transfusions, for which she gave special thanks to the two people - the only ones in New Zealand - in Watakere and Christchurch, who donate for her. 

“I really, really appreciate it. You’ve got no idea how much I appreciate all the blood donors in this country,” she expressed. 

Mel shared that when the going gets tough, laughter is the best way to cope. 

“You’ve got to laugh,” she said. 

“If you don’t laugh at the absurd things that go on with cancer, it’s just grim.”

“When everything is bad, I have to make sure that I get out of bed the next morning and actually physically talk to myself in the mirror and say ‘sort it out’.”

With a positive mindset, Mel is determined to return to the airwaves soon.

“You’ll definitely see me next year,” she smiled.